Great Gratins

Traditional French gratins are delicious one-pot dishes with a breadcrumb or cheese topping and no bottom crust. Not having to make a crust makes them easier to assemble than savory tarts, galettes or pot pies.

Traditional French gratins are delicious one-pot dishes with a breadcrumb or cheese topping and no bottom crust. Not having to make a crust makes them easier to assemble than savory tarts, galettes or pot pies. And crustless gratins are diet-friendly because they’re generally lower in carbs than their crusted cousins.

Using a French mandoline helps produce uniform slices of vegetables—and keeps the French spirit of the recipes. But the slicing attachment on a food processor makes a fine substitute. These recipes call for using a 2-quart gratin dish, but you may use any shallow 2-quart baking dish.

A cheese quesadilla is the ultimate fast food: grate cheese, melt in tortilla, top with salsa, eat. But in Mexico, fillings such as squash and mushrooms elevate this griddle favorite to a dinner-worthy dish.

Whenever a new kitchen gizmo shows up in the office, we get giddy. Everyone wants to see, touch and try. But a month later, half the new arrivals are dust magnets. Not these three. All are genius tools that make cooking faster and more fun. And all have passed the ultimate test: time?the newest is a decade old. Yet many people don?t own any of them and are mystified by one! What are they?

Lasagna is like a sandwich: You can put anything between the layers and it?s still lasagna. In America, that tends to mean a supersize stack of tomato sauce, cheese, vegetables, what-have-you?with calorie counts and fat grams to match.

Who says happy hour is only for bars and restaurants? A small gathering at your place with festive drinks and light nibbles is easy to pull together, and you can always let the party go later if everyone’s still having fun. Here are our favorite super-simple make-at-home noshes.